Childhood and Care in the Time of Coronavirus, A Commentary

Abstract

Far from being ‘a great equaliser’, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequities and produced new ones. Yet, in the face of the multiple crises which the COVID-19 pandemic amplified, including a crisis of care, novel imaginaries and practices emerged to navigate the instability it wrought. For instance, although children were largely out of focus during the pandemic, when they appeared in discussions it was often along well-worn paths bound up in the chameleon-like figure of the child as the risk and at-risk. Yet by paying close attention to children's own experiences, we can see multiple examples of their care for and about Others. I make the case that this care was radical in the context of Coronavirus, not least because the tropes of the risky or at-risk child threatened to fracture possibilities of intergenerational solidarities necessary for navigating the pandemic and important for addressing widespread injustices.

Citation

Rosen, R. (2024), "Childhood and Care in the Time of Coronavirus, A Commentary", Disney, T. and Grimshaw, L. (Ed.) Care and Coronavirus (Emerald Studies in Child Centred Practice), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 233-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83797-310-120241018